Not six month after graduation in May, Rosie Doyle is working her way up the ranks in the Marine Corps.
The youngest child among 15, Doyle did not come from a military background and never considered joining until the end of her freshman year at Cabrini College.
“If you had asked me in grade school, or even high school, if I wanted to join the military, I would have flat out said ‘No way!’” said Doyle.
After doing research, Doyle decided she wanted to join the Marines. Cabrini doesn’t offer a Marines ROTC program so Doyle looked into ROTC scholarships at other local colleges and entertained the possibility of transferring to Villanova. Doyle was referred to a captain out of the Philadelphia Marine office.
Captain Gravelle introduced her to the platoon leaders program. It is an officers program that takes place during the summer months, does not interfere with schooling and after completing the course, individuals come out with an officer rank.
Doyle began the training the summer going into her junior year. She was able to graduate from Cabrini with a major in both criminology and sociology, along with a minor in Spanish. After graduation, she completed officers candidate school over the summer. Then she was commissioned as a officer on August 23rd.
“It was a lot of hard work, I can’t sugar coat that,” said Doyle. “But I was really passionate about [joining the Marine Corps] and I think that it was honestly my hard work and dedication that got me through the training.”
Fitness and being in shape have always been important to Doyle and although she didn’t participate in collegiate sports, she did make time to go on runs or hit the gym between classes and homework.
Right now, Doyle is between training programs and will not go through her next program, Basics School in Virginia, until next year. Until that time, you can find Doyle in the Marines Philadelphia office or visiting colleges in the area, talking to students about the benefits of joining the Marine Corps.
“I like to remind people who are thinking about joining that more than half of the people they see in uniform started right where they are. Not everyone knows right away that they want to join, and they most certainly do not come in to basic in the best shape.”
Aside from the yelling and grueling training, Doyle says there isn’t a second when she regrets her decision. Coming from a big family, Doyle looked for her niche that would set her apart from her siblings. And she found that in the Marines.
“By far, this was the best decision I have made.”
